Disturbing, haunting, eerie, enveloping, engulfing, atmospheric, Larvae is just magnificent. Walls of noise collide with swirling unearthly sounds, tremolo-picked riffs masked in layer upon layer of effects and inhuman shrieks combine in ethereal disarray that is simultaneously disconcerting and soothing. 'Isvar Savasana' opens with long, cold atmospheric keyboards that slowly open up and after a few minutes, a bass-heavy distorted drone emerges that expands into passage of stifled riffs and muted screams. A near-blissful, ghostly chime resonates, a light striking through the dark clouds that soon rain down wrath from the indifferent depths of the heavens above. 'Lead us into Warfare' has a militaristic strength to it, like 'Mars' from Holst's The Planets, the crawling distortion opening up cavernous wounds to give way to a torrent of discordant, thundering sound circles. A gentle, cold wind opens the barren landscape that is 'Let There Be Light'. Unearthly sounds emerge, a clean guitar ascends, and a sullen spoken passage appears as the pace picks up and the track becomes rhythmically mesmerising and entrancing, the acoustic guitar-line like a hook beneath the skin. Then, chaos, followed by the lull after the storm.
The tones and textures of the album shift like tectonic plates, slowly, overwhelmingly powerful and ominous. The atmospheres are dense, tangibly viscous, and oppressive, all the time being utterly enthralling as black metal riffs thrash their muffled and twisted way across the near distance. The experience of this album is hard to define as the multitudes of layers seem to compete for attention yet remain firmly within the structured chaos and frenzied dynamic. Meditative and appalling, Larvae is nothing less than compelling and repeat listens reveals an ever-deepening emptiness rich in dark purity and cacophonous joy. Buy it. Listen to it. Be absorbed.
Track Listing:
- Isvar Savasana
- Lead Us In Warfare
- Let There Be Light
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